The Jose Espinosa-owned and -trained Trace Seis (Tres Seis-Sing And Pray by Truley First Class) defeated Alejandro Moya’s homebred Paint Bug (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Shays Luvbug by Mr Jess Perry) by a head in the third of 15 trials when they posted the top-two qualifying times.

Trace Seis held off Paint Bug with the Erasmo Hernandez-trained Trace Seis timed in :16.957 for the 330 yards, while Paint Bug finished well with a :16.968 mark. They were each making their career debuts.

“We picked her due to Tres Seis, who is an unbelievable sire,” said Espinosa. “Since we started her training, we knew we had a promising filly. She did great in the schooling races at Retama; we have a lot of faith in her.”

This is the first qualifier for Espinosa, who has been training on the Texas circuit for seven years. His filly will return for the final to compete for $181,120, the winner's share of the Sam Houston Futurity purse.

Jim Pitts’ Especially Tres (Dashair-Delightfully Tres by Tres Seis) should gain attention in the finals after dominating her trial by 2 3/4 lengths in her first start. The Trey Wood-trained filly opened up an early lead and then extended her advantage while posting the third-fastest qualifying time of (:16.998).

In the Sam Houston Derby, Marina Nino’s Flirtingwithamiracle (Dean Miracle-CP The Flirt by Strawflyin Buds) jumped up and surprised at 13-1 odds in the fifth of seven trials to record the fastest qualifying time of :17.739 for 350 yards. He was even with his rivals and then pulled out to the 1-length victory.

The Juan Saucedo-trained Flirtingwithamiracle made his 2013 debut in the trials. It was his comeback race after running in the Evangeline Downs Futurity back in December.

“He came into this race as sound as he has ever been,” said Saucedo. “It was great to see the way he opened up.”

Salvador Olvera’s CC Wants It All (Chief Corona-Toast To The Champ by American Champ (TB)) steps up to the stakes ranks after running for a $5,000 claiming tag in November. After that victory, he raced to second- and third-place finishes while moving up in class. He posted his career-best race in the derby trials when he won by three quarters of a length, with the second-fastest qualifying time of :17.805.

Jose Rodriguez’s De Future Corona (Corona Silver-Rosie Wins The Dash by Willie Wanta Dash) has a maiden win from four starts and was second behind Flirtingwithamiracle in the fastest trial. Two starts ago, the Javier Contreras-trained colt was a close second in a Louisiana Downs allowance race.